Vitor Belfort knee injury forced him out of Cung Le fight, will be back in Dec. and wants Chael Sonnen

Vitor Belfort recently revealed he's been suffering from an injury that was serious enough to take him out of a scheduled UFC 139 clash against Cung Le on Nov. 19.

Tonight, (Sept. 20) on Inside MMA, "The Phenom" spilled the beans on the nature of his ailment. Apparently, the former middleweight title contender has been having problems with a recurring knee injury. The good news is that he's only out until halfway through December.

And he's already got an opponent in mind.

"I'm 34-years-old, so I'm not a kid anymore. And I know all the problems of fighters in the game right now is they rush to jump in the ring with injuries and they perform bad. And that's happened with me in the past. So I said, 'You know what? I want time to treat that injury.' ... It's the knee (and) it's been recurring. ... One guy that I would like to think would be a great match is the guy that's been talking bad about Brazil is Chael Sonnen. I think that would be a great match for me. He totally disrespects the country and he knows how to sell."

Belfort would go on to say that he would like to fight for another four or five years, prompting him to make the decision to play it safe for the remainder of the time he's active as a professional.

Which will be especially useful if he gets his wish and ends up fighting Sonnen to ring in the new year. Hear more on the situation from Belfort after the jump.